Talent pool

Merely Players find unique setting for play

Marc Arbeeny as Poseidon stands above Ian Thomas in a scene from Merely Players production of Metamorphoses at the Best Western Mountain Shadows.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

An exasperated Theresa Carson turns away as Jessica Jane Hagemeister and Jacob Lavell Harris cavort in the hot tub at Best Western Mountain Shadows in the Merely Players production of Metamorphoses.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Marc Arbeeny, Sarah Syverson and Ian Thomas in a scene from the Merely Players production of Metamorphoses. The play was performed at the Best Western Mountain Shadows pool in Durango.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Jacob Lavell Harris, front, and Marc Arbeeny in the Merely Players production of Metamorphoses.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Jessica Jane Hagemeister in the Merely Players production of Metamorphoses.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Marc Arbeeny stars as Midas in a scene from the Merely Players production of Metamorphoses at the Best Western Mountain Shadows.

Traditionally, Orpheus descends into Hades searching for Eurydice. In the Merely Players production of Metamorphoses, Orpheus finds his beloved at the bottom of an empty swimming pool.

The pool is real, not a stage illusion. And the dramatic effect is stunning.

Metamorphoses opened Friday and plays through Saturday under the bubble-canopied pool at Best Western Mountain Shadows, the motel on Main Avenue.

In todays theatrical world, a pool, a tennis court, a used car lot or a corporate boardroom can all function as a stage. They are called found spaces, and director Mona Wood-Patterson says she has been searching for a pool and the right play for years.

With Mountain Shadows and playwright Mary Zimmermans Metamorphoses, Wood-Patterson has found a winning combination. The location physically enhances this modern retelling of ancient myths.

Based on Ovids tales of transformation, Zimmerman crafted a fanciful blend of old and new. The famous Roman poet was exiled by Emperor Augustus in 8 A.D. for mocking the gods. He died a decade later. It was a time of transition when the old gods were losing credibility.

A MacArthur Foundation Fellow and professor of performance studies at Northwestern University, Zimmerman has become a force in contemporary American theater. Metamorphoses began as Six Myths in 1996 at Northwestern. Zimmerman transformed it into a larger piece and Metamorphoses opened at Chicagos Lookingglass Theatre in 1998. It ran Off-Broadway in 2001 and moved to Broadway in 2002, when Zimmerman won a Tony Award for Best Direction. A revival is running now in Chicago.

After Ovids scheme, the play opens with a prologue followed by 12 short tales. The most familiar center on Orpheus, Narcissus, Pandora, Perseus and Medusa.

Each vignette centers on one or two mythical figures who by their own folly or the whims of the gods are transformed  into a tree, a bird, or solid gold as in the case of King Midas (wonderfully realized by Arbeeny in a yellow zoot-suit).

Most vignettes have a comic turn; some are lyrical, and a few are as dark as a watery grave. Pandora features Chavira as a sprightly girl who discovers a forbidden box. Narcissus (Ian Thomas) tells the tale of a boy in love with his own image. Harris and Syverson mime a funny bit as Perseus and Medusa with their own private Greek chorus.

The longest tale combines humor and darkness as Geoff Johnson dons many disguises to win over Syversons Pomona while narrating a catastrophic story of incest. The play-within-a-play, Myrrha (Anna Rose Rousseau), takes on the look of grand opera as the inner players appear in 18th-century costume.

Costumer JoAnn Nevils underscores the mythical base with plenty of white togas and chitons, then stretches to wigs and court dress for Myrrha, and updates with jeans, T-shirts and swim trunks.

When Harris plops into the hot tub in a swim suit and shades, he begins one of the funniest tales: Phaeton, son of Apollo, god of the sun, is a spoiled boy of privilege. He complains to his therapist (the savvy Carson) about his stubborn, distant father. Retelling a confrontation, Phaeton snarls, So I said, Give me the car keys, Dad.

In Ovids tale, Apollo lets Phaeton drive the chariot of the sun across the sky. Reckless, the boy steers too close to the Earth.

See Metamorphoses and find out how the Zimmerman-Wood-Patterson version ends. Its a rare opportunity. Dont miss it.

Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, artist and critic. Reach her at jreynolds@durangoherald.com.

If you go

Merely Players present Metamorphoses, a play by Mary Zimmerman, based on the myths of Ovid, directed by Mona Wood-Patterson, in the pool at Best Western Mountain Shadows, 3255 Main Ave. Show times are 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Tickets cost $22; for reservations and more information, call 749-8585.